Goodnight Olive

Stewart's Resolute Racing And MiddleGround Capital To Sponsor April Keeneland Stakes, Goodnight Olive To Appear

John Stewart, who owns Resolute Racing and founded MiddleGround Capital, will sponsor two Keeneland dirt sprint stakes which will be run opening weekend of the Spring Meet, the track said in a release on Thursday. Resolute Racing will add its name to the $600,000 GI Madison S. which will run on Saturday, Apr. 6, while MiddleGround Capital will sponsor the $400,000 GII Beaumont S. on Sunday, April 7. "My partner Scot Duncan and I have always enjoyed taking our family, friends, co-workers and investors to the races at Keeneland," Stewart...

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At Home With John Stewart and the Team at Resolute Farm

Statements don't come much bigger than that made by John Stewart in the second half of 2023 when he spent over $25 million at public auction in less than 10 weeks, suddenly announcing himself as an emerging force in racing and bloodstock. Stewart's most costly recruits included the second-top lot at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, an Uncle Mo half-sister to the multiple Grade I winner Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) who sold for $2.5 million. He then rolled into the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November Sale where a pair of Breeders' Cup winners headlined...

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Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift: Resolute Bloodstock

As the 2024 breeding season is now underway, the TDN staff is sitting down with breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Here we catch up with Chelsey Stone, the Director of Breeding for John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock. Stewart made a huge splash at the yearling and breeding stock sales in 2023 and he purchased the former Shadwell Stud property in Midway, Kentucky to launch Resolute Farm. "We have such an awesome fleet of mares, but we are always looking to add to...

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Resolute Bloodstock Purchases Caravel, To Visit Frankel in 2024

John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock has purchased 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint champion Caravel (Mizzen Mast) in a private sale conducted early in 2024. Resolute's breeding director Chelsey Stone said the 7-year-old mare will visit Juddmonte's champion sire Frankel (GB) in 2024. Bred and initially campaigned and trained by Elizabeth Merryman, Caravel earned nearly $2 million and amassed 15 career victories. In addition to her Breeders' Cup score, she earned a second Grade I win in the 2023 Jaipur S. In her final career start at the 2023 Breeders' Cup, the...

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Goodnight Olive Retires, To Be Bred to Not This Time

Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper--Salty Strike, by Smart Strike), the Eclipse Award-winning Champion Female Sprinter of 2022 and 2023, who sold for $6 million at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, will be retired and bred to Not This Time, according to a press release from John Stewart's Resolute Farm. Goodnight Olive earned $2.196 million on the racetrack, winning nine of 12 races while never finishing out of the money. She won back-to-back editions of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Following her Breeders' Cup win, Goodnight Olive returned to Payson Park...

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High Five For Godolphin At The Eclipse Awards

It was an evening to remember for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin team, as the worldwide operation accumulated no fewer than five statuettes over the course of the evening at Thursday's 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by FanDuel TV, John Deere, Keeneland and The Jockey Club, honoring and recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. And they saved the best for last, as Cody's Wish (Curlin), whose story resonated with nearly every fan of Thoroughbred racing and beyond, was named Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male for...

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Elite Power, Goodnight Olive Repeat as Champion Sprinters

Elite Power (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) repeated as Eclipse champion sprinters during Thursday's ceremony in Florida. Juddmonte's Elite Power traveled to Saudi Arabia to begin 2023 with a win in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint. Returned stateside, he won the GII True North S. and GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. before having an eight-race win streak interrupted with a runner-up effort in the GI Forego S. at Saratoga in August. He returned to the winner's circle and earned his second straight win in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint just...

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What Was Your Favorite Moment Of 2023: Jonathan Romeo

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to [email protected] I've been a racing enthusiast alongside my Dad forever, but watching his horse, Goodnight Olive, the past couple of years has been unparalleled. In 2023, we supported her every step during her 5-year-old campaign, culminating in a spectacular victory at the Breeder's Cup. It was my first time to Santa Anita, and what a special venue to watch her deliver magic one last time for the...

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Ortiz, Jr. Drops Appeal of Suspension For Winning Breeders' Cup Ride On Goodnight Olive

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has withdrawn his appeal of a three-day suspension for "for failure to maintain a straight course in the stretch and causing interference" aboard 11-10 favorite Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), who successfully defended her title by winning the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park. There was no stewards' inquiry posted after Goodnight Olive's win. The Equibase chart noted that Goodnight Olive "drifted in, taking the path of Society [Gun Runner] near the three-sixteenths pole" before she "quickly opened clear and held safely."...

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John Stewart Joins the TDN Writers' Room Podcast

Prior to this year's Keeneland September Sale, John Stewart was largely unknown in racing circles. That changed when Stewart, the founder and managing partner of MiddleGround Capital, a private equity firm, spent $8.425 million on 13 horses. He was just getting started. Stewart returned to the fall breeding stock sales at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland where he once again opened his check book, purchasing 11 mares and weanlings for a total of $17.35 million. The list included the two-time GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper). Stewart...

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Stewart Confirms Goodnight Olive Heading Back To Brown Stable

Back-to-back GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), who went to Lexington's own John Stewart at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale for $6 million on Tuesday Night, confirmed Wednesday via a message on X that his new acquisition would be returning to trainer Chad Brown to race in 2024. After the purchase that evening, Stewart told TDN that, "With all the success she's had to date, I think she still has some opportunity to still run." The new owner added to that sentiment in the Wednesday Tweet...

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'Remarkable' Fasig November Gross Tops $100 Million Again as Nest, Goodnight Olive Bring $6 Million

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - After a vibrant afternoon-into-night of bidding, the Fasig-Tipton November Sale grossed over $100 million for the third straight year with champions Nest (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) leading the way when bringing matching $6-million final bids Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. "It was another remarkable horse sale, literally from start to finish," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "It's really humbling to think that we've been able, for three years in a row, do over $100 million in sales in a single night....

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